Both Ends Of A Circle
by EndlessMasquerading
Summary: Sorry people, no slash in this one! Next time though... Anyway! People say that love and hate are opposites, what they don't know is that there's a very thin line between the two which you can easily cross. Rated T for future events.
1. Back To Hell

So this is my first South Park fic. I'd never even contemplated writing one until I found this category on so I'm not really sure how good it'll be, where it's going, how it's going to turn out, or indeed if it's even going to be finished (I'm pretty bad like that) so, although I have a rough idea for the plot, this is going to be as much a surprise for me as it will be for you guys!

Before I begin though I would like to dedicate this chapter to katgirl13605, Brittany, littleskittle100, Holly and gman2006 for giving me enough information on American school systems to write this. Thanks guys :D If anything's not quite right let me know, I'm always open to criticism.

Anyway! Without much further ado, I bring to you… insert the title I eventually choose (I haven't decided at the time of writing this introduction! Whatever it is, it's most definitely subject to change. I always think of something better after I've already chosen one). I haven't proof read this so there may be a few mistakes for which I apologise.

P.S. There are some things in this story that don't make sense yet. Bear with me, they will.

P.P.S. Forgive the lame start. I really can't imagine the South Park boys playing 'I spy' either…

* * *

'Iiii spyyyy with my little eyyyye something beginning wiiiiith……..'R',' Kyle drawled in a bored tone.

'It's rain, dude,' I said immediately. 'And it's been rain for your last 5 goes.'

'Yup…' Kyle yawned, ignoring my question. 'There's nothing else to damn well spy.'

'Why the hell are we playing this dumbass game anyway?' I asked settling even further down into the hood of my parka trying to escape the chilly air of the unheated school bus. As usual it meant whatever I said was almost completely swallowed by the grimy fabric but nevertheless he understood.

'Because there's nothing else to do and we need some form of distraction from them,' my friend answered, casting a disgusted look over his shoulder at Stan and Wendy who were eating face right behind us very noisily. 'Desperate times call for desperate measures. Seriously, I think I'm going to have to imprison Stan next summer vacation to stop him going away if this is what happens when he comes home. You'd think they hadn't seen each other for a year not a week.'

'Yeah, it's totally lame,' I agreed sleepily. First day back at school after the summer totally sucked ass, especially since the weather had decided to turn crappy for it just to add more of an atmosphere.

'Pathetic fallacy,' I muttered.

'What?' Kyle looked at me inquisitively.

'Pathetic fallacy,' I repeated. 'It's when the weather – '

'Reflects your mood, yeah, I know,' he interrupted me looking stunned. 'Where did you learn it though?'

I shrugged, ignoring the bluntness of his question. I really didn't remember; probably one of those rare moments when I actually listened in English at some point.

'You guys, I'm seriously,' an angry face appeared above the seat in front of us. 'I'm trying to get some beauty sleep hmyah – '

'Beauty sleep?' I questioned Cartman.

'It's not working,' Kyle retaliated and we both sniggered.

'Shut up Jew Boy!' Cartman snapped maliciously. 'Anyway! I'm trying to sleep and all I can hear is you two fags playing lame games and discussing English. Keep it for the classroom!'

And with that he disappeared from view again leaving me and Kyle glaring mutinously and the wide space where he'd vanished.

'I can't wait till Stan passes his driving test,' Kyle muttered sullenly.

When the bus finally pulled up we traipsed off it like condemned men. After we'd managed to pry Stan and Wendy apart and she'd gone off to find her friends, the four of us turned towards the school. Returning from a summer of fun and freedom made it look more like a prison than ever, especially considering the driving rain was pelting at it like a motherbitch and turning the grey stone even greyer.

'Fuck,' I swore.

'Look on the bright side,' Stan said. 'At least we're not freshmen anymore.'

'Yeah,' Cartman agreed his fat face lighting up. 'Now people have to respect our authoritah!'

As if to confirm his new found status he whacked a passing 9th grader causing her to squeal loudly and take cover behind her friends. The group looked at Cartman fearfully and hurriedly moved on as quickly as possible.

'Cartman!!!' Kyle exclaimed furiously.

'Just because we're sophomores now doesn't mean you get to beat on the freshmen, Fatass!' Stan agreed glaring.

'Guys, you need to take a firm hand with them right at the start or else they walk all over you,' Cartman explained calmly.

'Whatever,' I argued. 'You're just trying to reassert yourself after those 10th graders gave you a wedgie in the cafeteria every Friday last year.'

'Yeah,' Stan and Kyle laughed.

'Shut up, Kenny!' he yelled at me.

Later that day I was stood with Stan and Kyle by our lockers discussing whether me and Kyle should try out for the school football team. The discussion meant me and Kyle stood there pretending to listen while Stan listed 101 reasons why we should.

'Come on!' Stan raved, 'It'd be so cool! It really gets your blood pumping! You have to do it!'

'Stan, I wanna stay as far away from rough sports as possible, k?' I answered. Given my naturally 'accident prone' nature, football was probably not the best idea.

'Fine,' Stan sighed and turned to Kyle instead. 'What about you dude?...Kyle?'

Instead of answering though, Kyle made a weird, almost choking noise in his throat, ignoring him and staring over his left shoulder. Stan and I looked at one another curiously and then turned to see what was so amazing. A familiar looking girl was standing a few feet away, I'd definitely seen her before but not from school and she looked uneasy…she was arm in arm with another girl who I didn't recognise and who also looked slightly uncomfortable. Even though it was always fun to check out a new piece of ass, and there was no denying that the first chick was hot, I didn't get why Kyle had started blushing and was apparently no longer capable of coherent speech.

'Kyle?' Stan tried again, apparently as disinterested in the girls as I was. 'Kyle!'

Knowing what would snap him out of it, I attempted to steal his hat but, as I expected, he shot back to reality with a snarl and grabbed at it before I'd even managed to lift it from his head.

'Never touch the hat,' he told me quickly before turning to Stan. 'Dude! It's Rebecca!'

'Who?' Stan asked blankly looking at me. I shrugged.

'You know? Rebecca! The home schooled girl I…had a thing for,' he finished lamely.

'Oh!' Stan caught on and looked back over at her. 'Are you sure? It doesn't look like her…this girl's cute.'

'I'm telling you, man, it's – Hey! What do you mean this girl's cute?' Kyle said defensively.

'Well…Rebecca wasn't the best looking girl you've liked,' Stan answered tactfully.

'She was a fucking dog,' I chipped in.

'Shut up, butt pipe!' Kyle scowled. 'Well, anyway, it's definitely her and even if she wasn't hot then, which she was, she is now.'

It was at that moment that the supposed Rebecca caught sight of us and seemed to sigh in relief before making her way over, the other girl in tow.

'Oh thank God!' she remarked as she came within speaking distance. 'Someone I know! Hey, Kyle! Remember me?'

For a moment I thought he was going to pull a Stan and puke all over her and I contemplated taking a step backwards but thankfully he managed to hold it in and when he did speak he sounded quite laid back.

'Yeah, Rebecca right?'

'Yeah,' she grinned and gushed. 'Bet you're surprised to see me, huh? I finally persuaded daddy to let me come to high school. I was really getting too old for home schooling and when my cousin moved in with us she had to come here and so it was the perfect excuse for me to go too! I've only been here for a few hours and it's fascinating! Being in school is so different from anything else I've ever experienced!'

I looked at Stan and he looked back, an eyebrow raised. Was this girl for real? The second one was apparently having the same idea as us as she shook her head disbelievingly at her friend's statement. Rebecca must have caught the movement out of the corner of her eye as she suddenly grabbed her by the elbow and yanked her into our circle too.

'This is my cousin,' she now addressed us all. 'Grace.'

'Hi,' she mumbled looking at the floor in embarrassment as we all stared at her. The two of them couldn't be more different. Rebecca had had her hair cut into a short bob in the time we hadn't seen her and was wearing an extremely girly blouse and shirt combination, extremely formal for a day at school. Grace, on the other hand, had long spiky hair that she'd tied into a messy bun at the back of her head and was wearing a pair of cargo pants and a jumper despite the fact that the school felt about 90o. Even I had taken my parka off and shoved it in my locker and Stan and Kyle had also abandoned their coats. She seemed to feel me staring at her and raised her head, glaring back.

'What?' she growled.

'Nothing,' I answered putting my hands up in mock defence. There was an awkward pause between the 5 of us as Rebecca's seemingly limitless flow of conversation dried out.

'Well, anyway! We'd better go, it's math in about 5 minutes and we don't know where we're going,' Rebecca stated checking her watch.

'I'll show you,' Kyle offered eagerly causing Stan to snort with laughter. He ignored him though and set off with the girls.

'That,' Stan announced after they were out of earshot. 'Was the weirdest pair of females I've ever met.'

'Mhm,' I nodded.


	2. First Day Nerves

This chapter works on the assumption that Mark and Rebecca are twins. I don't think that this is contradicted in the original episode but I can't remember. If it's wrong then I'm sorry. Anyway! Enjoy!

_

* * *

_

Grace's POV: Earlier that day.

'Grace…' someone knocked quietly at my…well, _the_ bedroom door and I recognised the voice to be my aunt's. 'Grace…sweetie, it's time to wake up. You don't want to be late for your first day at your new school.'

'Ok,' I answered her in a deadened voice. There was a pause but I could tell she was still lingering outside.

'Are you sure it's not too soon?' I heard her say. 'You don't have to go, it's not too late to change your mind; you could always start next semester.'

'No,' I sighed. 'I want to get back to normal.' Or as normal as they're going to be for the rest of my life. She didn't argue and I heard her move down the hall to Mark's room to give him his wake up call.

I had no trouble getting up. I'd been awake since 3am thinking about today and I couldn't wait to get out of bed and stop thoughts swirling in my head with no distraction. How could today, an ordinary Monday morning, seem so normal for everyone else and yet for me be the equivalent of standing at the edge of a precipice and not knowing whether I was going fall or not? Of course, I knew why. It was because any other kid starting their first day back at school would have had their mom knocking on the door, not their aunt. They wouldn't be going to school in one of four outfits they'd worn for a week because the rest of their clothes hadn't arrived from New York yet. They would be looking forward to seeing all their friends again after the summer, not worrying about making new ones. They probably wouldn't even be starting a completely new high school in a completely new state either and even if they were, it would be their parents waving them off at the front door and wishing them luck, not their uncle and aunt who they barely knew.

A sudden feeling of desperation shot through me like electricity and my breathing sped up, I felt the walls starting to close in on me and my hands began to shake. I stumbled towards my bathroom and the one thing that could bring me release from the disgustingly familiar cocoon of darkness I'd come to loathe. I fumbled in the cabinet like a mad woman before I found my most treasured possession before sliding slowly down the bathroom wall to sit on the floor where I did my Thing.

A tear I hadn't even noticed beginning to well up slid down my cheek and I brushed it away before any others could follow. I had to be brave. Mom and dad hated it when I was sad. The thought of pleasing them breathed new life into me and I stood up, determinedly. Today was about making them proud and I was fucked if I was going to let them down now. I washed up and put It away before heading back out into my bedroom and opening my chest of drawers…to be greeted with emptiness…no clothes except a bra and 2 pairs of panties…problem…

Sighing, I put my dressing gown on and tied it tightly round me before going downstairs to the kitchen where I found Lily (my aunt) setting out the breakfast things and Thomas (my uncle) was reading the paper. They both looked up when I entered and smiled kindly at me. I knew they were just trying to be nice but I was getting a bit sick of being smiled at.

'Good morning, sweetie,' Lily greeted me brightly. 'Is everything ok?'

'I'm fine,' I nodded, absentmindedly pulling at the sleeves of my robe. 'I don't suppose any of my things arrived did they?'

'No not yet,' Thomas responded looking over the top of his newspaper at me. 'The social worker said any day now though.'

'Ok. Thing is all the clothes I came with are in the laundry so I don't have anything to wear,' I told them awkwardly. 'I don't suppose you didn't already put the machine on did you?'

'Oh…' Lily answered. 'I'm sorry Grace I just put it on 10 minutes ago. You can borrow some of Rebecca's things I'm sure. Just go and ask.'

'Thanks.'

I headed back upstairs and knocked on my cousin's bedroom door. There was a shuffling about from inside and Rebecca opened it looking sleepy and with a toothbrush in her mouth. She attempted to smile when she saw me and nearly dropped it.

'Hey, Rebecca,' I said. 'All my stuff's in the wash, I knew I should have brought a bigger suitcase. Anyway, I don't suppose I could borrow some clothes could I?'

She nodded and stood back to let me in then grabbed a hair brush and walked past me to the bathroom down the hall to spit. I walked slowly towards her wardrobe and opened the doors peering inside, I had been surprised we'd had a similar dress sense as really we were quite different in most other ways but I guess everyone has something in common. As I rummaged around I heard her re-enter the room and approach me.

'Anything you like?' she asked in that strange shaky voice of hers. It was weird the years hadn't removed it, especially considering how much more confident she had become since the last time I saw her, about 5 years ago. Still, the habit of patting her hands together repetitively had gone and she'd stopped biting her lower lip, except for when she was uncomfortable or under pressure.

'What are you going to wear?' I asked and she gestured over to the chair by her desk where she'd set out a plain white blouse and navy blue pencil skirt that looked as though it was part of a suit set. I stared but chose not to say anything. It was her first day too after all and she was pretty excited, I wasn't going spoil it for her over something as irrelevant as an outfit; despite the new found confidence, she was still easily shaken.

'Nice,' I lied.

'Thanks,' she smiled. 'Today's going to be so wonderful; I can't believe I'm finally going to high school.'

'Yeah,' I managed to squeeze out a tight smile and then turned back to the wardrobe. I pulled out a pair of jeans. 'Can I borrow these?'

'Of course,' she nodded turning to her clothes and waiting for me to leave the room so she could change. I glanced inside the pants quickly at the label to check the size and my heart sank when I saw the number indicating it.

'Rebecca, are all your clothes a size 8?'

'Sure, why?'

'I'm a 12.'

'Oh.'

We looked at each other helplessly for a few moments and she started chewing her lower lip. Then her eyes lit up with inspiration.

'What about borrowing something of Mark's?' she suggested. I just looked at her. She looked back and the chewing intensified. 'I'm sure he'd be willing to lend you something.'

I tried to search for an alternative; the last thing I wanted was to wear guy's clothes on my first day of school as everyone knows first impressions are very important. I couldn't think of one though and swallowing hard, trying not to imagine the looks I was going to get, I nodded.

'Fine.'

I gazed at myself in the mirror hanging on the wall of my room in horror. I looked awful. I was wearing a pair of cargo pants and a big baggy jumper, both items completely drowned me. I had hoped I might be able to pull it off as a rugged tomboy look, I knew some girls at my old school in New York who could but on me it just didn't work. Thinking about my old friends and how hard they'd laugh if they could see me like this caused a stinging pang though and I felt a lump rise in my throat so I turned my attention to the only thing that pleased me about what I had on. The sleeves. I plucked at them and then dropped my arms to my sides letting them fall to their full length which went just past my hands. Perfect. With that I quickly shoved my hair up and applied some make up before heading down to breakfast.

Thomas pulled up outside the grey brick building and turned the car engine off. He grabbed Mark's arm to stop him getting out just yet and turned to me and Rebecca who were sat nervously in the back.

'This is a big day for you two,' he announced. 'I want you to take extra special care of one another and Mark you're to look after them and make sure they're doing ok.'

Mark nodded impatiently and waved to a group of boys standing close by, apparently waiting for him.

'They'll be fine, father,' he said absentmindedly. 'But of course I'll take care of them.'

'I'll be all right, papa,' Rebecca reassured him and, when he turned to me, I nodded in agreement.

'One high school's the same as any other,' I said.

'Well, if either of you want to come home, all you have to do is call and Lily will come and pick you up,' he told us.

'Honestly, we'll be ok,' I promised.

'You're not ready for this either of you,' he suddenly concluded after a pause, turning back round and starting the engine. 'I understand. Don't you worry; we'll have you back home in no time.'

'Papa!' Mark and Rebecca both shouted simultaneously.

'Oh, right! Mark! I forgot about you. Have a good day son,' he smiled.

'Papa, I know you're worried about Rebecca attending high school but I think this would be a good experience for her,' Mark told his father. 'She's fifteen and really never had any association with other children. Give her this chance; you were willing to let her go in third grade when I started.'

'That was different,' his father reminded him. 'She was a lot younger then, still a child, and elementary school is a lot different from high school. Besides she didn't want to go then.'

'But I wish to go now,' Rebecca chimed in. 'Oh do let me go, papa!'

I looked between the three of them, stunned. Sometimes I forgot just how strange my mom's side of the family could be. I felt like I'd just walked into a Charles Dickens novel. I could see the students outside beginning to file into the school and looked at my watch, it was 7.55. If we didn't hurry we'd be late so I interrupted before my uncle could reply and opened my car door.

'She'll be fine, Thomas,' I told him, flashing a quick smile and grabbing my cousin's arm, pulling her out after me. 'I'll look after her and if she doesn't like it, like you said, she doesn't have to stay.'

'Well, all right,' he answered unsurely. 'Have a good day the three of you. Study hard.'

We all waved goodbye and turned towards the school. Though I didn't turn around I knew he watched us until we all walked through the doors and disappeared from sight.

The morning was hectic, I mean _really_ hectic and I suddenly understood the predicament of the kids on TV shows who start at a new school and don't know anybody. It was scary being the new kids. Everyone our age had made friends over previous years and me and Rebecca felt like fish out of water in their midst. Lessons were fine, both me and Rebecca were smart so we didn't struggle with the work we were set and, as lessons weren't a time for socialising, the fact that we didn't know anyone didn't pose a problem. Thankfully most of our lessons were together with the exception of Spanish, English and history and whilst I felt relatively ok to sit at the back of the class by myself, I worried about Rebecca and how she was getting on.

I rushed to her English class after my US history one and waited for her on tenterhooks. When she came out she looked relieved to see me and was biting her lower lip again.

'Was it ok?' I asked her anxiously.

'Yes, thank you,' she nodded before linking her arm in mine and moving closer to my side. 'The work was easy but a lot of people kept staring at me.'

'It'll be different tomorrow, they'll have got used to you,' I reassured her. I kind of wished she would let go of my arm and give me some space. The heating had been turned right up in the school due to the new chilly fall weather outside and I was baking in Mark's jumper though obviously I wasn't going strip down to the t-shirt I had on underneath. 'Where do you wanna go?'

'I don't know,' Rebecca quavered. She had stopped chewing on her lip but she still looked slightly ill at ease as she looked around for somewhere to go. I couldn't help noticing people staring at us and our odd appearance as they walked passed and I looked at the ground to avoid their eyes. Suddenly I heard Rebecca sigh in what appeared to be relief and before I knew it she was tugging me forward to a set of lockers where a group of three boys stood staring at us.

'Oh thank God!' Rebecca gushed. 'Someone I know! Hey, Kyle! Remember me?'

What the…? 'Thank God'? Since when had Rebecca ever said that? And how did she know boys?! She was possibly the most sheltered kid I've ever known when it came to the world of dating (or anything for that matter); I wouldn't have been surprised if it had an effect one day. The boy she was addressing, the one with the green hat, had a peculiar expression on his face but his reply was quite normal. Rebecca clearly thought this was a concession to plunge into an in depth explanation as to why she was here and I lingered in the background, just outside the group. I had never seen Rebecca this animated or, come to think about it, this at ease with anyone. Oh my God! Was she flirting?! This concept, combined with her final statement on finding school fascinating, almost made me laugh out loud but instead I contented myself with shaking my head in disbelieving amusement. A few seconds later I wished I hadn't drawn attention to myself with my small movement as she grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me into the centre of their group.

'This is my cousin, Grace,' she introduced me to them. Oh god.

'Hi,' I mumbled looking determinedly at the floor, refusing to meet their eyes as I felt myself blushing. This was awful. I was immediately very aware of the fact that I was wearing men's clothes. No matter how ridiculously formal Rebecca looked in her skirt and blouse, she never failed to look pretty, a thought which heightened my appreciation of how stupid I must have looked. I felt the dreaded sense of panic sweep over me and my breathing thickened. I dug my fingernails into the palms of my clenched fists and tried to ignore it. I felt one of the boy's stares burning the back of my neck and I jerked my head up angrily and glared back. Why should I be made to feel like this?

'What?' I growled. He seemed taken aback and put his hands up defensively.

'Nothing,' he answered. He had messy dirty blond hair and brown eyes which were still looking at me curiously and they seemed to linger on my jumper. I hated people staring at me and it was at that moment that I took an instant dislike to him. Rebecca appeared to have realised she'd got us in quite deep at this point and there was an awkward silence between us all. Possibly in order to break it she glanced at her watch.

'Well, anyway! We'd better go, it's math in about 5 minutes and we don't know where we're going,' she announced.

The boy with the green hat seemed to look pleased about this and instantly offered to show us, causing his friend (the one wearing the blue hat, not the one with the staring problem) to snort with laughter. If I hadn't been feeling as pissed as I was I would probably have found his keenness amusing too. As it was, I turned and followed Rebecca and her new friend away from the lockers without giving the other two boys so much as a backward glance.


	3. Cafeteria Conflicts

Just to point out that whenever a point of view is switched in this fic it doesn't always mean that the scene has to back track and be seen through the other characters eyes, I'll only repeat a scene if it's important like I need to cover certain events/feelings or explain things etc. By the time you've read this chapter I'm sure you'll have figured that out anyway though, you're all intelligent people.

_

* * *

_

_Kenny's POV_

'God damn,' Kyle moaned fishing in his pockets. 'I forgot my lunch money. Anyone got any spare they wanna lend me?'

'Sure,' Stan nodded fishing in his pockets. 'I don't know how much I've got but – '

'No, Stan! Don't do it!' Cartman yelled throwing out an arm and pinning down the hand Stan was about to hold out to Kyle with the money in it. 'Rule number one of being friends with Jews, Stan: NEVER lend them money…you'll never get it back!'

'Oh shut up you big douche,' Stan retaliated, knocking Cartman's arm away and handing Kyle the lunch money.

'Thanks,' Kyle answered, glowering at Cartman.

'Dude, remind me why we hang out with you again?' I asked Cartman coolly. He looked Kyle up and down warily before answering me.

'It's to protect you from the greedy grabbing hands of K– '

'CARTMAN!' Kyle snarled, fighting against Stan who had grabbed the back of his shirt to hold him back. 'I swear to god! If you make one more wisecrack about Jews today I'll make you wish you had never been born!'

'Chill out man!' Cartman sniggered maliciously. 'If you know it's not true why let it get to you?'

I was reluctantly impressed at the fact that Cartman had used logic but wasn't prepared to say so. A passing cafeteria monitor noticed Kyle's desperate attempts to get at our fat friend and frowned.

'No fighting in the lunch line. If you continue I'll have to report you,' she scolded us shrilly. Simultaneously the four of us flipped her off. She let out a strangled sound of outrage and stalked off with her own tray. Her intervention seemed to have distracted Kyle though and his anger dissipated enough for Stan to decide it was safe to let go of his shirt.

Once we'd all got our lunch trays we headed off towards our usual table only to find two people already sitting there. It was Rebecca and her weird cousin, Grace.

'Dudes, why are a geek and a lesbian sitting at our table?' Cartman asked dangerously.

'Lesbian?' I raised an eyebrow at him.

'Man, all I see is a chick in guy's clothes with bad hair. To me that equals lesbian, that's all I'm saying,' he answered.

'Jesus, Cartman, stop relying on stereotypes,' Stan told him angrily.

'Yeah, you fat fuck!' I agreed.

'Ay!'

Given the opportunity to take a closer look at Grace though I noticed she actually was wearing men's clothes. I hadn't seen it earlier due to her defensive attack and quick departure but now I saw that the jumper and pants she was wearing were from the men's wear store just down the road. I then realised that my three friends had left me behind and were already walking up to the table. I walked quickly after them.

'Hey bitches,' Cartman spat as soon as he got near them. 'This is our table, so if you could move along please.'

Rebecca looked a little scared and seemed like she was about to get her tray and move but Grace simply looked at Cartman blankly.

'No,' she told him. Cartman looked taken aback. He spluttered slightly in that strange way of his before answering.

'Maybe you didn't hear me,' he continued. 'This is our table; we usually sit hmyah so move.'

'No.'

'Move your bitch ass, ho!' Cartman screamed. Grace jumped down from the table and squared up to him looking furious.

'Cartman, it's not a big deal, Christ,' I muttered. God, what did this chick have up her ass?

'Yeah, we can all sit together, there's room,' Kyle chipped in a little too quickly. Rebecca started biting her lower lip. These girls were so weird.

'What makes you guys think we want to sit with you?' Grace sneered and Rebecca looked crestfallen.

'Grace?' a voice called curiously from across the cafeteria. It could easily be heard as everything had gone quite quiet upon hearing Cartman's yell, the whole student body looking forward to a (seriously strange) fight. Before long, Mark Cotswold was at the scene looking slightly put out. I stared at him, what did he want? Stupid whiney little douche.

'What on earth's going on?' he asked nobody in particular. 'Grace? Is everything all right?'

His best friend, Gregory, appeared at his shoulder and peered over it. Oh yeah! I'd completely forgotten Mark was Rebecca's brother…that made him Grace's cousin too.

'It's fine,' she replied shortly, her eyes never leaving Cartman's. 'I can handle it.'

'I'm sure,' he nodded and I detected slight sarcasm in his voice as he grabbed her hand and pulled her away out of the cafeteria. She tried to fight against it but his grip was too strong.

All of us let out the breath we'd been holding and scrambled up at the table. Even Cartman no longer objected to sitting with the two girls and looked slightly relieved that the conflict was over. Kyle noticed and laughed.

'Ha ha! You were shit scared, fatass,' he grinned, flicking peas at him.

'No I wasn't,' Cartman retaliated going red. 'I could have taken her down anytime.'

'Leave her alone,' Rebecca suddenly piped up looking terrified at her own daring and blushing furiously. We all turned to her quizzically. 'Sh-she's not having a very good time at the moment. Please.'

'Well, ok,' Kyle answered curiously.

Suddenly, she was back and stood in front of us glaring with her hands on her hips but after a few seconds she seemed to accept the situation.

'You're in my seat,' she told me.

'So?' I frowned, ignoring Rebecca's anxious expression. I was fucked if I was going to let her talk to me like that. Every time I met this girl I liked her less. So maybe she had issues. My family lived in the fucking ghetto for Christ's sake, that didn't mean I took it out on random strangers.

'So move,' she scowled. Fine. If she was going to play it that way I'd join in. I ignored her and turned to Stan.

'Can I have some of your soda, dude?' I asked him. 'I didn't have enough money for my own and I'm way thirsty.'

'Oh Jesus Christ, fine! Can you move _please_,' Grace said exasperated. I turned and smiled at her sarcastically.

'See, that didn't hurt did it?' I said with a patronising coolness, inwardly laughing at the sight of her grinding her teeth against a tirade as she sat down next to me. She leaned over me to grab her lunch tray from the centre of the table where it had been moved.

Because she'd slid her arm across the table and not lifted it off the surface, her sleeves were pulled up slightly despite their ridiculous length, the fabric collecting between her elbow and the table. Glancing down I thought I spotted something on her upper inside wrist, a tattoo maybe, but she caught me looking and snatched her hand back at the speed of light.

'God! What's wrong with you?' she snarled. 'Why do you keep staring?'

'What?!' I spluttered disbelievingly. 'What's wrong with me?! You're the one with the attitude problem! And I was _not_ staring! Believe me, there's nothing to stare at.'

'You dick!' she retorted unoriginally, her voice rising.

'Guys! Guys!' Stan cut in looking surprised at our seemingly completely unfounded hostility. 'Don't fight.'

'No!' I rounded on him. 'I'm not taking this bullshit! I don't even know her and she's been a complete bitch each time I've met her.'

'Go to hell,' she snapped.

'Kenny,' Kyle warned looking pointedly at me and then at Rebecca who looked miserable. For her sake I bit back the insults I wanted to hurl at her stupid cousin and thankfully Grace seemed to catch Rebecca's expression and did so too. There was a long and painful silence between us all except for Cartman's pathetic giggling over the argument he'd just watched, the sadistic bastard.

'So…' Stan said uncomfortably.

_Grace's POV_

'So…' the boy with the blue and red hat said uncomfortably. Unfortunately it did nothing to ease the agonising pause that had engulfed the table. The only person making any noise was the fat guy who was laughing spitefully into his food. I chose not to say anything; Mark had explained why I shouldn't get on the wrong side of Eric Cartman outside the cafeteria after he'd dragged me out. Normally I would have ignored his warnings but someone who's willing to turn someone else's parents into chili and then feed them to that person is clearly not to be reckoned with. He was the only one eating; everyone else had apparently lost their appetites after the heated row they'd just witnessed.

I sighed and looked at the tabletop, biting my lip just like Rebecca and felt guilt sweep over me. I knew I shouldn't have lost it like that; the boy…Kenny was it?...hadn't actually been doing anything wrong at all but my nerves were already stretched to breaking point from trying to survive my first day and I _really_ didn't like being stared at. I felt my face begin to radiate heat and I wanted to get out of the stifling cafeteria and run as fast as I could back to the bathroom at 'home'. But I didn't. I owed it to Rebecca to stay, she'd been subtly making sure I was all right all day even though it was a big day for her too and I wanted to be there to support her like she was supporting me. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, swallowing the aching lump in my throat and looking up feeling much calmer than I had a few seconds ago. I opened my mouth to start a conversation but…

'Stan! Stan, baby!' a high pitched voice rang out and the boy's face brightened considerably. The other three groaned and received a filthy look from Stan. A girl bounced up to our table and smiled at us all, her eyes lingering on me and Rebecca warily. Her whole look screamed future prom queen. She then turned to her boyfriend and the two of them shared possibly the longest kiss I'd ever seen. I was starting to feel suffocated just watching them when they were rudely interrupted by Kenny who threw Kyle's conveniently available algebra notebook at them.

'Hey!' three voices exclaimed indignantly.

'Sorry, I couldn't stand it a second longer,' Kenny moaned as Kyle got down to retrieve his abused book. Stan in the meantime contented himself with leaning over the table and giving Kenny a dead arm. As the two started bickering the black haired girl rolled her eyes and smiled at me and Rebecca in turn.

'So I haven't seen you guys around here before,' she remarked conversationally stealing a fry from Stan's plate whilst he was preoccupied. 'Are you, like, new? I'm Wendy by the way.'

'Hello,' Rebecca replied shyly and I smiled at the black haired girl, she seemed nice and was one of the only people who hadn't made us feel awkward about being the new girls.

'So what are your names?' Wendy prompted when we didn't introduce ourselves.

'Oh, I'm Rebecca and this is Grace, my cousin.'

Wendy shoved Stan along the bench and sat down herself looking thoughtfully at Rebecca from across Stan and Kyle. Rebecca looked perilously close to falling off the end of the seat now she was sharing it with three other people but she didn't seem to mind.

'Rebecca…' she murmured narrowing her eyes in concentration. 'Rebecca…you look pretty familiar.'

'I only live a few blocks away,' Rebecca nodded. 'I was previously home schooled but my father finally agreed to let me come to high school.'

'Of course!' Wendy snapped her fingers and laughed. 'You're the girl Kyle had the hots for in 3rd grade.'

Both Kyle and my cousin went scarlet and avoided one another's eyes. Between them they'd created a new kind of red. She must have noticed (how could she not?) as she tactfully changed the subject and turned to me.

'But I don't think I know you,' she stated and reached for another fry. This time Stan noticed and knocked her hand away so she stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to me. 'Where are you from? I haven't seen you outside school.'

'I've just moved here from New York, I'm living with Rebecca and Mark now,' I explained matter-of-factly but my heart sped up at the inescapable question I knew was coming.

'Really? How come?'

I saw Rebecca look up sharply from her tray and I glanced over at her to see her eyes full of concern. I hesitated, mentally dithering over whether I should lie, say I didn't want to talk about it or be honest. I swallowed knowing that everyone would find out sooner or later and looked down at my hands.

'My…um….my parents…died…' I practically whispered into my lap. I heard a soft intake of breath and looked up to shocked faces from everyone who wasn't Rebecca though Wendy's was mingled with sympathy.

'God,' she murmured. 'I'm really sorry; I'd never have asked if I'd known. Are you doing ok?'

'As well as can be expected,' I nodded and reached out for my Cola with a shaky hand. I found it difficult to lift it to my lips without showing everyone I was trembling though so I put it back down again. 'It was about two weeks ago so…you know…'

'Wow, you're so brave,' she said shaking her head incredulously. 'I don't think I'd be able to deal with that and start all over in a new state within the same month.'

I smiled weakly at her. Brave. If only she knew.

'How did it happen?' the guy called Cartman asked. He had apparently stopped gorging himself long enough to listen in.

'Dude!' Kyle gasped. 'Not cool!'

'It was a caving accident,' I answered shortly. 'They went on an adventure holiday and didn't come back. I'm going to change the subject now. So what kind of stuff do you guys do around here in your free time? I haven't really been out much since I arrived.'

Everyone launched enthusiastically into what sounded like an entire brochure of things to do and I sat and nodded politely. The only person who was not saying anything, I noticed, was Kenny who sat sullenly toying with his food. Oh well, whatever, if he was going to be childish let him, I had no interest in the sulky blond at all.

_Kenny's POV_

I felt awful. Why hadn't Rebecca explained? I would have been way more tolerant if I'd known her parents had frigging died. I sat and pushed my food around my plate with my fork, no longer hungry, and let the sound of the others' conversation wash over me.

'You gonna eat that?' a familiar voice asked sharply and I glanced up and went red. Grace was looking at me, fixing me with brown eyes. She jerked her head towards me plate and repeated her question more slowly when I failed to answer. 'Are you going to eat that?'

'No,' I shook my head. 'Why? You want it?'

'As if,' she snorted. 'I'm not a dog, I don't take scraps. It just annoys me when people play with their food.'

She turned back to the others and I felt my feelings of dislike and irritation towards her slowly returning. I noticed she wasn't being a bitch towards anyone else and I had no idea what I'd done to deserve this 'special' treatment. I shrugged and turned back to my plate, any past feelings of guilt gone and took a huge bite of pizza. If she was happy to be a bitch then I was happy to be a bastard.


	4. New Found Friendship

Ok...I'm (tentatively) back. I don't know how many of this story's original readers are still here or if they are if they're even still interested in reading it. I'm sorry it's taken so long to update and even more sorry for the length (or should I say lack of it) of this chapter. So yeah! Hope I haven't lost my touch and that you enjoy this slightly early Christmas gift :D

* * *

_Grace's POV_

It had been 2 weeks since me and Rebecca had started at South Park High and, tough though it was, we had to admit we were enjoying it. We were doing really well with our studies and had managed to relax into the new routine and were even managing to have fun into the bargain. Even I found I was spending less and less time in my bathroom with my back to the wall, working away with my favourite possession. After my clothes finally arrived on the morning of our second day and I was able to dress normally, people started treating me that way.

Strangely enough, it also appeared we'd been initiated into the group of four boys and accepted as friends. Although things had continued to be awkward over the first few days as me and Rebecca refused to give up the lunch table, they seemed to eventually take it as given that we'd be eating lunch together and before long the relationship seemed to spread beyond the cafeteria.

It started roughly a week earlier when Stan came and found me and Rebecca outside her locker. He was hand in hand with Wendy (who was trailing her own friendship group of girls just behind her, all of whom were giggling annoyingly), Kyle right behind them with a pissed off looking Kenny (our relationship most certainly hadn't improved) with Cartman bringing up the rear.

'Hey,' Stan smiled.

'Oh…hello,' I answered casting a side long look at Rebecca curiously. We'd never interacted outside of lunch before with exception of a nod if we passed in the corridors.

'Hey,' Kyle replied from behind Stan though I couldn't help noticing it was mainly directed at Rebecca. She seemed temporarily incapable of speech, however, at being caught off guard by the unexpected meeting and simply gurgled before going bright pink and hiding behind her calculus text book. I fought back a giggle and waved to Cartman before I turned back to Stan and Wendy, ignoring the giggling girls and Kenny. 'Can we help you with anything?'

'We were all going to catch a movie after school,' he informed us. 'We were wondering if you two wanted to come along. We'd go straight from here.'

'Oh well…I don't know…' Rebecca mumbled from behind her shield. 'I haven't asked papa or mother and they would probably need some notice as mother cooks in the evening and –'

'Cool, we'll be there,' I cut across Rebecca hastily. 'Where do you guys wanna meet?'

'My locker?' Stan answered, casting the text book that should have been Rebecca a strange look.

'We'll be there,' I nodded at which point I noticed Kenny grimace.

'Got a problem with that, McCormick?' I spat.

'Not at all, bitch,' he retaliated venomously.

'So we'll see you guys at 3 and decide what movie to see then,' Kyle jumped in diverting an argument. Cartman looked thoroughly disappointed at Kyle's successful attempt to keep the peace and muttered something like 'stupid Jew' under his breath.

Kyle spun on his heel about to have it out with the fat boy when Cartman's Goth girlfriend, Henrietta, arrived on the scene, cigarette shamelessly out. The feud with Kyle forgotten, he snaked an arm round her sizeable waste and the two began to kiss…er…passionately…a lot of tongues were involved. No one quite knew what the two had in common but whenever Henrietta was asked what exactly she saw in Eric she would simply take a drag on her cigarette and murmur how nonconformist he was and that he didn't give a shit what people thought which turned her on. People generally stopped questioning her after hearing that. Cartman on the other hand just thought she was a great piece of ass and was delighted to find someone who hated everybody else as much as he did.

'Gross, dude!' Kyle exclaimed turning away in disgust. Everybody followed suit and tried to ignore the distinctly organically juicy noises coming from behind us.

'We'll see you at 3,' I agreed raising my voice slightly to cover the sound before moving away as quickly as possible though not before I heard the distinct shriek of our vice principle ripping through the noise of the chattering crowd. I wasn't sure what she was most revolted by: the fact that Henrietta was smoking in the hallway or that Cartman had now shoved her up against the lockers and was practically screwing her right then and there. None of us waited to find out.

The movie had been good fun; I hadn't had to speak to Kenny once and Wendy's gaggle of gal pals hadn't been included in the invitation it turned out so we were saved from them as well. Everyone had had a real laugh and it had made me grin from ear to ear watching the way Rebecca and Kyle had been together, i.e. inseparable. It was that evening that had proved a turning point in our acquaintance with the group and from then on we definitely considered ourselves as friends and hung out whenever possible.

A week later found me sitting on the couch watching some pretty poor TV with Rebecca when the front door opened and Mark came in followed closely by Gregory. I didn't like that kid at all, he was scheming and arrogant and he constantly manipulated my male cousin. I also wasn't that keen on the way he always eyed up Rebecca whenever she was around.

'Oh, hello girls,' Mark nodded to us when he entered the room. 'I thought you were going out for the evening.'

'No,' I answered shortly and shifted my position slightly so Rebecca was blocked slightly from Gregory's line of vision. 'I thought you were.'

'No no,' Mark answered. 'We were going to watch a movie.'

'Of course, we'd be delighted if two such beautiful ladies as you wished to join us,' the sleaze ball cut in, his eyes lingering on the bit of Rebecca he could see. Urgh. 'We'd hate to interrupt.'

'What film is it?' Rebecca asked curiously.

''When I weep', it's marvellous,' Gregory answered. 'It's a new bohemian film by Josef – '

'I think we're ok,' I interrupted him. It sounded boring as sin. ''Becca, why don't we go up to my room and chill? I've got this awesome new eye make up technique that'd look great on you, we could try it out.'

'No,' Rebecca suddenly said firmly. 'It's ok, Grace, I kinda want to watch the film. Why don't you go hang out with the guys for a few hours? We can try the make up out later.'

I sat helplessly, all eyes on me. Then it hit me. I was an outsider. Sure, I'd been welcomed into the group and I'd formed an almost sister-like bond with Rebecca but there must be times when she would just have wanted to hang out with her brother like they used to. Who knows, maybe they had film evenings with Gregory a lot before I intruded. Maybe she'd liked him all along, I just hadn't realised it before and I was just scuppering any opportunities she had to be with him. All the same, I still didn't like the way he looked at her. I got up uncertainly and walked to the kitchen where the phone was.

'Maybe…maybe I'll call the others and see if I can hang with them for a couple of hours,' I stated and lifted the receiver, dialling the first number which came into my head.

_Kenny's POV_

'Get that will you, dude?' Kyle yelled from the kitchen where his attempts to do the dishes had dissolved into a full on water fight with Stan and Cartman. As I was the only one avoiding the situation and staying in the living room, I obliged.

'Hello, Kyle…'s phone,' I said lamely into the phone, ducking swiftly as Cartman skidded into the room followed by the other two and water came flying in my direction.

'Who is this?' a strangely familiar voice asked.

'Kenny. Why? Who's this?' I answered. I could tell by the irritated gasp what the answer was though.

'Can I just speak to Kyle please?'

'Sure. Kyle! It's Satan's worst nightmare on the phone for you,' I yelled grinning at the flow of profanities my comment was greeted with.

'Hey, Grace,' Kyle panted into the phone when he'd taken it from me, making me laugh even harder at the fact he'd known who I was talking about. Oh, she would be properly pissed! 'You want to come over?'

My eyes widened in shock and I made frantic gestures towards my friend to say no but he frowned at me and ignored them. 'Sure, I don't see why not. The others are here too….N-no, Kenny won't be leaving any time soon.'

'Want a bet?' I growled but he just flipped me off which I sent straight back.

'Is…er...will Rebecca be coming too?' he asked in a way that could be considered casual if it weren't for the light flush that spread over his cheeks. Me and the other two 'oooo'ed in the background and made kissing noises causing him to look murderously at us. 'Oh…oh, ok no biggie – '

'No biggie?' Cartman repeated incredulously. 'Dude, you are such a faggot!'

'Shut up ass-rammer!' Kyle yelled back. 'No! Not you Grace! Ok so we'll see you in five? Ok…ok cool.'

'What the hell, d-' I began furiously but he cut me off.

'Kenny! Seriously! Can you not just suck it up and act civilly for a couple of hours?'

'It's not me that's the problem,' I said through gritted teeth but he chose not to hear and instead tackled Stan to the ground and pinned him down while Cartman poured water over his head.


End file.
